Sunday, 20 November 2016

A self-proclaimed prophet from Kwekwe was on Friday slapped
with a 40-year jail term when he was convicted of raping a Midlands State University student four times while holding
her captive on a mountain saying the Holy Spirt had instructed him to use his
manhood to cleanse her.

McDonald Nyamhondoro (33) of the Madzibaba apostolic sect
in Redcliff had pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Gokwe regional
Magistrate, Mr Solomon Jenya facing four counts of rape. However, he was
convicted after a full trial and sentenced to 10 years in jail on each count.
Mr Jenya, however, suspended eight years on condition of good behaviour.

The State’s case was that sometime in January this year on
a date unknown to the prosecutor, the complainant (name withheld) who was aged
20 from Rutendo high-density suburb in Redcliff approached Jenya seeking divine
intervention on her social problems.

Jenya, the court heard, took the woman to his place of
worship where he allegedly prayed for her for two days after which he informed
the complainant that she had been freed from the tormenting spirits that were
sexually abusing her in her sleep.

After the cleansing, Jenya told the complainant that the
“Holy Spirit” had instructed him to take the woman to a nearby mountain for
four days to celebrate the victory of having cast away the evil spirits, to
which the woman complied.

On 18 January, Jenya asked other female congregants to
accompany him and the complainant to the mountain where they would spend four
days celebrating. When they got to the mountain Jenya instructed three other
women to go and fetch water from a nearby river while he and the complainant
prayed in a cave. Jenya then tripped the complainant to the ground as soon as
other church members left and raped her once.

The following day, Jenya used the same method to rape the
complainant again. On 20 January, Jenya and the women returned to the shrine
where the MSU student told him that she was no longer interested in being
assisted by him but he told her that the “Holy Spirit” had told him to have sex
with her for the last time and raped her twice.

Lucky ran out for Jenya when he and the complainant met
police officers who were looking for the woman after her two brothers who had
been left in her custody drowned on their way home following a heavy rain. The
complainant told the police what had transpired leading to Jenya’s arrest. Mr
Michael Mhene appeared for the State. sunday news